Its in the Bag Challenge!

I LOVE challenges and I especially LOVE altering stuff (in case you didn’t notice :D) Altered gift packing is just so fun, and your recipients feel special that not only did you make a card, but you took the time and attention to the packaging. Packaging doesn’t always have to be something complex and difficult. Keep it simple.

The greatest thing about these Coffee Bags is not only are they STAMPABLE, but the interior of the bags are lined with waxed paper, which will prevent any oils from the treats they contain from seeping to the outside of your project.

I really love her coffee bags for gift giving. Usually we think a great time to send treats is during the holidays. That isn’t always the case though. Don’t you love when people think of you ALL year? Receiving a gift for NO reason is the BEST!

So here is my gift idea:

A few months ago my friend Paulette sent me this wet mix in a ziplock bag. It was for

Amish Friendship Bread. I had to take the 10 days to make the mixutre. Then separate it out and pass the mix along to a couple of people.

The idea behind Amish Friendship Bread is that it is the chain letter of the baking world. The idea is very simple: a friend gives you a cup of yeast culture (also known as “starter”) and a copy of instructions. Following the instructions, you add sugar, flour and milk and it rises. Eventually, you end up with 4 cups of the starter. You use one cup to make bread (the instructions provide you with the recipe), keep one cup to start a new cycle and give two cups to your friends. Each of your friends also gets a copy of the instructions for what to do with the yeast starter. The latter part makes it somewhat like a chain letter. Of course, Amish Friendship Bread does not come with any promises of riches for those who spread it on or curses for those who don’t.

It was created because the Amish believe that we live in a fast paced world. Fast food, lack of time taken to enjoy the cooking/baking process with family & friends. By giving and receiving the kit, you are not only sharing of yourself, but taking time in the fast paced life to stop and make something from scratch so it is home made.

I made the bread and it tasted AMAZING!!!! So I promptly passed it along. Ever since I hoped to get more 😀 I made a starter to pass along, and decided this is how I am going to give this mixture.

click to enlarge

I typed up my recipe/instructions, then resized them to fit my project. I then printed them in a plum color onto vintage cream cardstock. I then used the house image Boards & Beams, and stamped the house in Lavendar Moon.

I took my LONG rectangle scallop nestabilities to die cut the long scallop mat from Plum Pudding cardstock. I layered on my recipe. The best part about this bag is I didn’t ADHERE the recipe to the bag. It is just held on with the ribbon. Now the person receiving it can slip it off and keep the recipe for future use 😀

I used my Guidelines patterned paper to make a simple cover for my bag. I felt it was very in theme with the simple Amish way of living.

I used my Making Memories ribbon slot tool to then string though my simple satin ribbon, which holds my recipe in place, as well as my tag with my greeting. I then kept it simple with decorating it using prima flowers and adhesive pearls.

Once it was decorated ( 3 bags took 20 minutes 😀 to make including printing recipe) I poured in my mixture.

TIP: I wrapped my bags with saran wrap before pouring anything, just in case I spilled anything, my bags wouldn’t be ruined. 😀 Which me being the messy clutz I am, they would have been ruined. LOL!

I hope you enjoyed this simple project, and you take the time to make one for a friend, family member, teacher or neighbor!

Take out 3 cups and place 1 cup each into three separate plastic containers.Give one cup and a copy of this recipe to three friends.To the balance (a little over one cup) of the batter,add the following ingredients and mix well.

1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

In a separate bowl combine the following dry ingredients and mix well:

This sounds so neat, Lauren. I am sure you are going to get more requests, but do you have a recipe for the starter? I would love to do this. I can remember in my younger days that someone gave me a starter and I made the bread, but it was a different recipe. Yours sounds better!!! LOL. Thanks. PTI could not have chosen a better person to be on their team.
Cheryl

In case you wanted to know!
Amish Friendship Bread Starter
This is the Amish Friendship Bread Starter Recipe that you’ll need to make the Amish Friendship Bread. It is very important to use plastic or wooden utensils and plastic or glass containers when making this. Do not use metal at all!

I remember this bread – it’s so yummy! In fact, we were *just* talking about this a couple of days ago, my sister and I.
Thank you, Janet S., for the starter recipe. My sister is going to be thrilled when I give her the starter again.
Love the bag and instructions, Lauren. It’s gorgeous!

I love that reciepe. I make that bread in the fall when it is not hot because I cook with gas and it heats up the house when your making the bread. I love the gift bag. You still amaze with all your creations. susan

I had received a bag of this and loved having the fresh bread every 10 days, but instead of adding a cup of milk, flour and sugar every time it said to add it, I only added 1/4 cup of each just to keep the starter going. My reason for doing this was because I was running out of people to give it to and didn’t want to waste the milk, flour and sugar. On baking day I added the 1/4 cup of each to the mix, squished the bag around, measured out 1 1/2 cup for the recipe and had 1 cup left to start all over again, without having to find people to give it to. I know this sounds unfriendly, but eventually you run out of people to give it to who will really use it. But then again, if I saw you coming towards me with that awesome bag, even if I had a bag of it on my counter, I’d take it from you, just for the bag alone.

I have received this bread many times, my neighbor loves it so much she always keeps a starter batch for herself. Your gift bag is such a nice way to present it. Getting a ziploc bag of tan mushy batter isn’t very appealing (LOL). Great idea as always!!!!!!!!!!

What an absolutely fabulous packaging idea for passing along Amish Friendship Bread! Mine has never been received or given in such an imaginative and beautiful way. It certainly does make delicious, moist bread with so many variations. Thanks for sharing everything! Love the way you wrote the post with all the links. Very fun and clever!

What a great idea! The gal I work with just asked if I wanted a starter for the Amish Friendship Bread and I said sure. Now I know how to package it attractively to give away! If I just do it is another thing! I have everything you used so I should get busy!! Love your blog and you, Lauren!

The best thing about this bread, besides eating it, is that you can put the starter in the freezer on any day and just pull it out when you’re ready to start again. Just remember to label the bag as to what day you put it in. I stole a friend’s idea to take it up to day 9 and freeze it. That way if you need it, you can bake it the next day. It’s also easier when you’re on vacation. You don’t have to get someone to bread sit. Beautiful project, as usual!

Too funny. A friend of mine gave me this mix a month or so ago and we have been making it too. I remember making it regularly about 15 years ago so it was a flashback to get a starter!
I make 3 little mini loafs to hand out with my starters and a big loaf for us which is gone within a day usually. I didn’t keep a starter this last time as we are moving. You should have seen the copied and recopied instructions I received. They were pitiful so I retyped them as well. Thanks for a great packaging idea, Lauren!

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